MLG Orlando, A Second Opinion and Improvements

I decided to skip class Thursday so that my girlfriend and I could get to MLG in time for early check in. I was as excited as a Korean fan girl meeting the Emperor, and I get the feeling that I wasn't the only one. Alexxus (my girlfriend) and I stood out on the balcony of our moderately priced room at the Holiday Inn and saw a huge blue and white structure in the distance, it had a high resemblance to Cinderella's castle. As we wondered what the mysterious structure was we realized that it was getting close to Thursday night check in, and so (iPhone in hand) we set off for the GayLord. En route we realized that “Cinderella's Castle” was actually the GayLord itself. Unfortunately, despite it's Disney like exterior, the weekend was handled more like your local mini golf arena.

First, let me get this out of the way- of course I had a great time at MLG. I was able to meet a lot of the TeamLiquid crew (purposefully avoid saying hi to Kennigit because I'm way cooler than him). I cheered with the electric crowd when Huk took the finals. I was able to meet a ton of ecstatic E-sports fans, both new and old. I got to embarrass myself in front of Idra and get pegged by Alex as a lurk. So of course I had fun, but MLG had little to do with it.

Let's look at the most common complaints about MLG: it's hard to access food, the only easily obtainable drink is Dr. Pepper, there are not enough seats, player access is too on and off, and it's difficult to see the games. All of the negatives are on MLG's side and all of the positives are on the side of the players and the fans. The fact of the matter is that Starcraft fans are the best, most loving fans on the planet, and we would sit in a garbage heap to watch Idra vs. Boxer. MLG doesn't get complained about because we're all just so happy about getting to meet players, fans, and cheer in the crowd. But this attitude isn't helpful for an organization that is so new to organizing mass amounts people.

When we walked into the Gaylord hotel on Thursday night, there were no signs to guide us. We didn't really mind, since the GayLord Convention Center was beautiful and amazing. The first room we walked into was a huge atrium with tallest escalators I had ever seen in my life. We wandered around for a bit, obviously out of place as we passed the suit and tie crowds there for various business conventions, until we finally passed a group of teenagers in an assortment of goth and bro clothing (probably Halo fans). After we got directions from them, we went downstairs and the early check in booth was set up with two long tables. Manning the table on the right were six muscular guys with a sampling of backwards hats and cut off t-shirts. They directed me to the one guy actually doing check in (the others were just keeping the computers warm I guess) and he handed over our paper wristbands for the weekend. On Friday there were long disorganized lines, with no one really knowing where they were supposed to be.

This process alone has a few problems with it. First of all, my high school debate tournament had signs up for check in, the people doing check in were well dressed and professional, and one of the most important parts of organizing any event is making sure that everyone knows where they are supposed to be. These are easy issues to fix, and go a long way to making MLG look like a more professional event. If I was a parent checking in my kid for the weekend, I would never get the impression that e-sports was an important event worth investing in, instead it looks like it's run by kids, for kids.

Alexxus and I felt pretty smart, prior to the event on Friday we went to Publix and got some sandwich stuffs and snacks before heading to the event, aware that food was going to be an issue. TSL Polt, a GSL champion, came outside with his small two man posse. I was inside, enjoying my brief talk with Hot_Bid, but Alexxus was taking a break reading on the outside couches. She knew who Polt was, but not much besides the basics: team TSL, GSL champion, and a Korean Terran. Polt and his two Korean homies asked to sit with her, probably because of her nonthreatening “I'm only here because my boyfriend likes Starcraft and I'll leave you alone” appearance. Eventually Alexxus offered them all some American hospitality in the form of cheez-its. While Polt's entourage declined, Polt himself took a bag with much happiness. After a few minutes of reading the package, it became clear that he needed help opening them, so Alexxus lead by example and taught a GSL champion how to open a bag of cheez-its.

This was one of those memorable moments of MLG that most fans have (drinking with White-ra, smoking with Ret, pestering EG members as they eat, telling Catz to proxy hatch), but it also demonstrates two things that are very unprofessional about the execution of MLG. Polt (and more largely everyone) was hungry, and there was literally nothing of interest for the non-gaming fans of the audience.

Food was not only one of the largest problems of the event, but also one of the easiest to make money in the execution of. What Alexxus and I, and also many other people, ended up doing was ordering pizza from Papa Johns, it was located just down the road, and it avoided the problem of having to pay the parking fee every time you left the parking lot. Can you imagine the buckets of money that both MLG and that Papa Johns could have made if MLG had contacted Papa Johns, offering to put up a sign saying “order from Papa Johns with code word 'MLG' and 5% of your Papa Johns order will go towards supporting MLG.” Everyone at the event was struggling to find food, and most people just didn't eat all day until they left for the night. With one simple step, MLG could have both provided food and made money off of it.

The other problem that the Polt conundrum indicated was that there was absolutely no attempt by MLG to try and court non gaming family and friends into the world of Starcraft. Why were there no pamphlets offering explanations of the game or tech trees? Why weren't a couple of the extra Alienware computers being used for 15 dollar, 30 minute community basic coaching; with, for example, 10 dollars going to MLG and 5 to the coach? Alexxus and I met a ton of people that were just there to support their friends and family with no concept of "E-sports" or how to play Starcraft. If even 30% of the crowd was there for other games (Halo or Call of Duty) or just to support their beloved Starcraft fan, isn't it worth trying to show off what Starcraft is to try and get more people involved with it? It's just a tragedy when you have the attention of friends and family for an entire weekend and do absolutely nothing to harness it.

Outside of the basics listed above, there are even more ways in which MLG could be cheaply and significantly improved for the gaming audience (and in some cases even make money). Even if MLG couldn't acquire additional chairs for whatever reason, there are indirect solutions to the seating issue. While everyone watching the stream see's the signs that jokingly ask for more seats, it really is a serious issue. Even when the Call of Duty stage had been converted for Starcraft, a significant number of people were still sitting on the floor. I had to stand and watch as seats were stacked up from other events finishing; rather than redistribute the seats they remained unused. That's just poor event management, there is no other excuse.

Every spectator's best memory of the event has to do with meeting a player. I remember that I ended up following around a guy with a beautifully made Liquid Tyler sign as we both hunted down where he would be playing next. The best opportunities I had to talk with Jinro, Sheth, and Huk were when they were amongst the standing crowd watching the games, or if I walked passed them outside the event. MLG could have organized this process with the players much more smoothly than they did (and by "did" I mean not at all). There was no attempt to provide a separate place for players to go if they wanted to spend some time with fans or if they wanted some alone time to prepare.

MLG was dealing with what looked like at least 200 extra square feet at the venue. Would it be asking too much to spread everything out? The pro circuit area is arranged in a giant rectangle so that a very small crowd of 10-20 people have the option of watching some of the games being played on the outside of the rectangle. Why not organize the area into a series of lines, so that more fans can follow their favorite players? Pending MLG's budget, I cherish the idea of medium sized TV screens along the wall that are exclusively set up for displaying your favorite player's games. Why not have a Jinro screen, a Tyler screen, an iNcontroL screen, and a Polt screen so that it's easier to follow your favorite player throughout the whole tournament?

Doing any of the above suggestions indirectly fixes the seating problem. Seating is only such a large issue because there isn't much choice in what to be doing. People come to MLG with money, but the event doesn't give you very many ways to spend it. Aside from their crappy, low stocked, fenced in “store,” there's no other place to spend your money for memorabilia. I have no idea why MLG wouldn't put there extra space to more use, offering for a low price for independent companies and teams to set up booths. Why was there no offer for a TeamLiquid booth, an EG booth, a Complexity booth, from which to buy T-Shirts and meet people like Nazgul and SirScoots? These booths would also provide their own entertainment to get players hyped and more directly exposed to the community. Even if Starcraft teams themselves couldn't afford it, the great thing about the Starcraft community is that it is more collectively an internet community. Even internet stars like Hey Ash Whatcha Playin, Mega 64, Epic Meal Time, FreddieW, and The Escapist Magazine staff should be invited. It would be a great and cost effective way to utilize space and generate excitement.

Finally, there is the problem of the Ninth Day. For all I saw of them, the casters might as well have been flown in on the Sunday and done all of their casting off site from who knows where. When Day9 left the MLG area, he was immediately stalked by at least 50 people. The man is now an E-Sports hero. For the love of E-Sports MLG, please allocate him better. He's a great caster, but he needs to be all over the event floor, meeting people and generating excitement. The entire “back stage” area itself is an issue, with a giant black curtain separating the casting booths and the stream equipment. People want to see that kind of stuff, I'm sure a ton of fans would love just to watch the casters and see how the tech side of the event works. Even if you don't want to open that area up to the general public, take down the curtain and sell tours of the area for your “Diamond members” that pay 100 dollars a year or something similar for the privilege.

For an organization that claims so much to be entirely interested in its fans, MLG falls short in so many ways. It isn't very professional, it isn't monetized well at all, and it's easier to follow what is going on from home than from at the event. I saw multiple players checking Liquipedia for tournament standings rather than rely on MLG. There are a ton of improvements that are glaringly obvious, and a ton of ways to make money while making fans happier.

The biggest problem that MLG faces in the evaluation of their product is that of course everyone is happy with it. E-Sports fans are the best fans in the world, and we're just happy that there is a place to go and watch Starcraft. During his open Q&A at the beginning of the tournament, Sundance asked people from Florida to raise their hands, 90% of the room raised their hands, he asked people who drove from out of state to raise there's, another 7%, finally, he asked who flew, and the remaining 3% raised their hands. He then said something along the lines of “ya, that confirms research I've done.” MLG may not be evaluating those numbers correctly. The problem isn't that Starcraft isn't worth it, the problem is that MLG isn't worth it.